opinion Those who cast votes in Crow Wing and Cass counties, pat yourselves on the back. Crow Wing County reported a 92.34 percent turnout among registered voters last Tuesday, Nov. 6, for the general election. That’s 35,067 of 37,975 registered voters. Amazing! In Cass County, voter turnout was 91.56 percent....
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2012-11-27 13:48:28

Those who cast votes in Crow Wing and Cass counties, pat yourselves on the back.

Crow Wing County reported a 92.34 percent turnout among registered voters last Tuesday, Nov. 6, for the general election. That’s 35,067 of 37,975 registered voters. Amazing!

Minnesota Secretary of State Mark Ritchie reported that Minnesotans cast a record number of ballots in the Nov. 6 election. At least 2,938,947 voters cast ballots in the presidential race. Since most voters cast votes in the presidential race, this number is a good indicator of voter turnout.

This record number of voters is about 76 percent of Minnesota’s estimated eligible voters, according to the secretary of state’s office. The number of estimated eligible voters has increased by 135,238 voters since 2008.

Also noteworthy is that while the two proposed constitutional amendments on voter ID and marriage were unsuccessful statewide, both proposed amendments did receive approval in Crow Wing County.

The proposal to limit marriage to a man and a woman passed in Crow Wing County with 20,954 yes votes to 13,770 no votes. There were an estimated 343 blank votes.

The proposal to require a photo ID to vote also passed in Crow Wing County with 19,156 yes votes compared to 15,493 no votes and an estimated 418 blank votes.

A final thought about politics. The following was a Facebook post by a friend about respecting other people’s opinions, and I couldn’t agree more:

“I don’t care what you voted and I don’t care if you voted Yes or No. It’s your right as an American to have an opinion. If somebody posts their opinion, it’s not your job to change them or damn them for their choices.”

As Americans we enjoy the right to vote, and we enjoy the right to our opinions.